Noteworthy new listings….
Stylish midcentury is rare in Santa Barbara, even more so when it’s turnkey. The seller of 820 Summit Road ($5.195 million) on Eucalyptus Hill paid $3.45 million for the 1962 house in the fall of 2021 and made it look really good. (Before photos are here.) Floor-to-ceiling windows are everywhere on the south and west sides, with a glimpse of the ocean and a spacious yard below. But it’s not big: there are just two bedrooms, neither of which is huge.
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Thanks to a bunch of outbuildings, size is less of a concern at another midcentury gem, 930 Andante Road ($4.385 million), at the end of a Mission Canyon cul-de-sac stacked with neat homes (including the Whale House). Designed by Edwards-Pitman and built in 1964, the main house is a total beaut—albeit with quirks like a primary open to the living room below and a baffler of a room—and the one-acre lot feels like a world of its own. The outbuildings include a garage with an apartment above it, an art studio, and two cottages, and while far from charmless, they’re not quite up to the level of the main house.
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And size is no concern at all at 1475 E. Mountain Drive ($28.5 million), which feels even larger than its 11,740 square feet—and it certainly looks larger, now that the front and rear facades have been stripped of vegetation and painted white, gleaming like a fresh set of veneers. (A few before photos are here.) Inside, the seller—who paid $19.6 million in the fall of 2021—kept things spare, and it’s all super-duper livable, with a tremendous view of Montecito, the ocean, and the islands. The best part, in my opinion, is the spread of flat land to the south. Looking out over the pool and tennis court, you truly feel as if you’ve won the lottery.
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The seller of 850 Rockbridge Road ($9.75 million), who paid $3.2 million in the spring of 2021, did something similar to the 1987 Tudor in Riven Rock (before photos are here), making it appear like a contemporary take on traditional. While heavy on white, it has good energy. I suspect it will be appealling to families, because the two guest rooms and their hallway bath are next to the upstairs primary, the third-floor room is ideal for playtime, and there’s a big lawn out back. The cute cottage on the far side of the front yard would benefit from combining the two stories into a single lofty space.
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6635 Arozena Lane ($6.5 million) is at the end of a private cul-de-sac off south of Route 150 (i.e., the road to Ojai), with pictures windows in every room showcasing the view to the south. (Understandable, but the effect is like being in a multiplex where every theater is showing the same film.) It’s a sweet setting, and while one can admire the unwillingness to get bogged down in maintaining landscaping, a bit of refinement would help. The 1989 ranch house has been given a contemporary redesign that looks sharp; two of the four bedrooms were sacrificed to make a family room, which leaves one true guest room (with a hallway bath). It’s a great set-up for a couple, with an office (or maybe two) for each party. P.S. A sauna with windows is an excellent invention. P.P.S. We’re being watched.
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The 2010 four-bedroom at 50 Rincon Vista Road ($5.495 million), at the end of a cul-de-sac off Las Alturas Road, wants new surfaces (including replacing the tile floors), but there’s some nice millwork that should be saved. Or do nothing at all, because with that view, no one will even notice. P.S. A red metal roof is such a choice.
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2827 Palomino Ridge Lane ($5.199 million) verges on floops territory: the seller bought it in October 2024 for $3.225 million. It’s all very tasteful, with no neighbors between you and the view down the canyon. While I wish the kitchen were a tad wider, so that an island could be added, you have to love the pot filler for pets and the wet bar in the dining room. The 4.64-acre property includes 170 pomegranate trees, so you never need worry about antioxidants.
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I’ll be shocked if 3141 Calle Fresno ($3.395 million) doesn’t go into escrow within the next few days. It’s a 1945 farmhouse expanded into a bit of a warren, but in a winning way. The primary bath is big for anywhere, but especially an old house in San Roque, and there’s both a shaded courtyard and a backyard with saltwater pool and outdoor kitchen.
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Also worth checking out:
••• 1455 Vincenti Place ($7.95 million): End unit of a Sea Meadow triplex that could use a little refresh; the backyard fronts a communal lawn and the tennis court, but the beach is a short walk away (below).
••• 2145 Edison Street ($5.45 million): 1979 ranch house given a rustique overlay on 9.76 acres north of Santa Ynez. The compound also includes a guest house;16-stall barn with two-bedroom, two-bath apartment; party barn, dressage court; and more.
••• 636 Litchfield Lane ($4.3 million): Presumed spec reno—the seller paid $2.388 million last July—of a 1963 four-bedroom, three-bath in Alta Mesa.
••• 323 E. Arrellaga Street ($1.895 million): Cute 1905 Craftsman that’s bigger than it looks from the front but with a funky floor plan.
••• 140 E. Rice Ranch Road ($1.999 million): A “one of a kind Castle in Orcutt” with an “imported carved oak fireplace from a lobby of a hotel in Sussex England” (below).
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